GUELPH POLITICAST #272 - The Pandemic Arts

These days, more and more people have used the pandemic to discover new creative resources, while professional artists have struggled to earn a living without access to the live venues and events from which they usually collect the majority of their income. From new programs to virtual events, it’s been a long, hard road for the Guelph Arts Council for the last 15 months, and it’s not over yet.

The Guelph Arts Council has been around since 1975. It's reportedly one of the first institutions of its kind in Ontario, and if you’ve been to an artsy event in Guelph, then chances are that the GAC had a hand in it at some point. From helping artist groups to get established, to sponsoring new shows and festivals, to being a natural place for emerging artists to network with established colleagues, the GAC has been essential to the arts in Guelph, and that hasn't changed.

In the last year, the GAC had to establish an entirely new way of doing things. Signature events like Art on the Street had to move on line, their annual historical walks had to be limited to a few people masked and physically distant, and they had to hustle to ensure that money and support still flowed to artists whose various revenue streams dried up. The logistics are mind boggling, so let’s hear about the logistics from the person who knows about the balancing act, the GAC's executive director Patti Broughton.

In this week's podcast, Broughton will talk about the effect of the pandemic on the local arts scene, and whether the pandemic might be a net positive with so many people discovering new artistic talents. She will also talk about how the GAC had to adapt to the pandemic, and how programs and events might be changed forever once things go back to “normal.” And finally, Broughton will discuss the council's new online arts hub, and how it's still a busy time in Guelph's vibrant arts scene despite the lockdown.

So let's talk about the fine art of surviving the pandemic in this edition of the Guelph Politicast!

You can learn more about the Guelph Arts Council at their website, and all over social media. The new artist hub will be posted sometime later this summer, but in the meantime, you can check out the Collector’s Dilemma fundraiser here until May 20, and for all future virtual Arts Council events, visit the calendar page of their website here.

The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.

Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.